Chronicle Editor
Bongani Ndlovu, Chronicle Reporter
THE recent death of the tenacious 10 men as they battled a raging veld fire at Lot 43 of Red Rose Farm in Esigodini, Umzingwane District in Matabeleland South, is a culmination of years of fierce running battles with gold panners.
Illegal gold mining activities have also caused serious land degradation in the farm. Farmers are losing their cattle, which are dying after falling into pits dug by illegal gold panners. Most of the gold panners will be armed with machetes, axes, picks and shovels.
Esigodini is a mineral-rich area resulting in rampant illegal gold mining activities. Illegal gold miners are the main culprits when it comes to veld fires. They set fire to clear land for them to be able to detect gold using metal detectors.
Red Rose Farm, measuring 384 hectares, is largely a cattle ranch, with a portion of land reserved for gold mining activities. The owner of the farm, Mr Abel Moyo is into cattle ranching while his business partner, Mr Mike Stone is into both cattle farming and gold mining. The death of the 10 men affected three companies that operate at the farm.
G&S Mining CO (Pvt) Limited lost four workers while Osirus (Pvt) Ltd had four deaths with Red Rose Farm losing two workers.
The head of security at the farm, Mr Davison Khanye said illegal gold mining is widespread. He attributed the fire to illegal gold panners operating on a mountainous area, about 5km from the site where the bodies of the fire victims were found.
“We are always in running battles with illegal panners who stray into our farm in search of gold. During our patrols, we sometimes pick their metal detectors left at the scene while fleeing from our security personnel,” he said.
“The veld fire came from a mountain called koBanda and if you look closely there is a small shack up that mountain that is used by these illegal gold miners. We strongly believe they are the ones who set the fire.”
Mr Khanye said whenever gold panners want to clear land to detect gold, they resort to burning bushes.
“I took our security team and the police and we went up the mountain and the gold panners took to their heels. There is evidence that they are the ones who set the fire, which then got out of control,” he said.
Mr Khanye said the pits dug by illegal miners in their farm are also a danger to livestock. He said they lost about 100 cattle after they fell and got trapped in the cavernous pits. Others are trapped by poachers who use snares.
“Besides gold panning, these people set up snares to catch wild animals such as impalas and kudus, which are found in this area. Our cattle end up falling prey to these snares while in the bush grazing,” he said.
“In most cases, we discover carcasses of the animals with missing parts.”
A Chronicle news crew was a taken on a tour of the farm and observed illegal mining activities and the area is littered with pits, some of which are up to three metres deep.
Mr Elliot Zondo, one of the farm workers, took the news crew on a 25km drive around Lot 43. Mr Zondo said they conduct routine patrols on the farm as part of efforts to fight illegal mining activities.
“It is very risky dealing with illegal gold panners because most of them will be armed with machetes, axes, picks and shovels. In some instances, some will be carrying guns hence it will be a matter of life or death,” he said.
Mr Zondo said through their illegal activities, the panners are causing land degradation.
“They use metal detectors and upon suspecting that there could be gold, they start digging and even if they don’t find gold, they don’t bother filling up the holes, but instead proceed to the next area,” he said.
Mr Zondo said local villagers also assist them with information.
Upon returning to the base after the tour, the news crew met up with Mr Stone, a burly man with a distinct long beard that has earned him the nickname Mandevu by the locals.
He said some of his workers who died from the veld fires had served for almost 30 years at the farm.
“I have been with some of these guys for about 30 years and they have been helpful in terms of fighting veld fires. Their death is a blow to us and we are really devastated,” said Mr Stone.
He said as a result of pits dug by gold panners, he lost seven bulls last year.
“Every month I’m losing an animal after having fallen into these holes dug by illegal miners. More often than not we find them dead and rotting,” said Mr Stone.
“When you try to stop these illegal miners, they get aggressive. Despite our efforts to put out these veld fires, the illegal miners continue to frustrate us.”
Mr Stone said he has been forced to reduce his herd to avoid incurring losses. He said some of the paddocks are now riddled with illegal mining activities.
“We have actually stopped using some of the paddocks, especially the ones near the dam because they are the most affected ones with a lot of pits, which are not only a danger to animals but humans as well,” said Mr Stone.
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